The Florida Panthers have dealt forward Tomas Fleischmann to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Dany Heatley and a 2015 third-round pick.

The deal reunites Fleischmann with coach Bruce Boudreau as the two were together in Washington. The pair also won a Calder Cup together with the Hershey Bears in 2006.

Fleischmann, 30, has seven goals and 14 assists in 52 games this season.

Heatley, who has a $1 million cap hit, was held pointless in six games this season prior to being waived by the Ducks. He registered two goals and five assists in 25 AHL games with the Norfolk Admirals.

In a separate transaction the Panthers assigned Garrett Wilson to San Antonio and activated Brandon Pirri off of injured reserve. David Bolland was also placed on injured reserve retroactive to Feb. 21.

We asked on Thursday if it was “panic time” in Toronto. Since then, the Leafs have dropped two more games, running their losing streak to five straight in regulation and seeing their playoff chances drop to 34.5 percent, according to Sports Club Stats.

So, if it was time to panic then, is it time now for Leafs fans to……crack each other’s heads open and feast on the goo inside? (H/t Kent Brockman.)

There is no relief in sight with the league-leading St. Louis Blues set to visit Air Canada Centre on Tuesday and a tough back-to-back against Philadelphia and Detroit on Friday and Saturday. This is already quite bad, yes, but it could easily get worse.

Meanwhile, the Globe and Mail’s James Mirtle writes that goalie James Reimer doesn’t deserve to the scapegoat, despite the fact Reimer’s been between the pipes for almost all of the recent slide:

The reality in all this is that this Leafs team has been playing on a knife’s edge all season, allowing a historically high number of shots and leaning on [Jonathan Bernier] to clean up the mess that systemic issues create in front of him.

That Bernier was able to do so for 44 games before going down with a groin injury was the main thing saving this team from contention for a pick in the draft lottery.

That Reimer hasn’t been able to do the same – after a half season of pulling it off a year ago – speaks as much to the variance in goalies’ play in small samples as the difference between the two Leafs backstops.

Finally, taking the contrarian route, the Toronto Star’s Damien Cox doesn’t think this current Leafs’ slide changes anything, because Toronto’s best days are in the future, not the present:

The Leafs believed they had improved their roster with the off-season additions of Bernier, centre David Bolland and David Clarkson, and that was partially true. Bernier has been outstanding. But Bolland has missed most of the season and Clarkson has been a disaster as a free agent signing so far.

The core of the team, however, has been good. That would include Bernier now, of course, as well as Kessel, James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak and Dion Phaneuf, as well as youngsters Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner and Nazem Kadri.

To head coach Randy Carlyle’s chagrin, Lupul injured his foot blocking a shot in practice on Friday. He wasn’t wearing shot blockers on his feet in practice.

It’s expected that Josh Leivo will take his spot in the lineup, although more focus will be on the belated season debut of big-ticket free agent acquisition David Clarkson. TSN’s Jonas Siegel reports that Frazer McLaren will also play his first game in 2013-14.

Clarkson appears primed to start out on a line with David Bolland and Mason Raymond.

Lupul’s had a strong start to the 2013-14 season, scoring 10 points – including six goals on 33 shots – in 10 games.

“He practices like a pro. He’s trying to make himself better every day,” Carlyle said. “Some of our young players could take notice of that and we’ve talked to them about it. Just to take notice of how he approaches practice and how intense he is and the level of commitment he puts in.

“It’s guys like David Bolland that sell your program and help coaches in leading by example and showing the way. Those are very, very important intangibles that happen within the team.”